In Reply to Lori Jones McCaffery

"Poetry Challenge 1: One sentence, 17 syllables"

I'm doing a variation and writing a poem consisting of only 17 syllable lines:

Born with everything possible; how disappointing it came to this,

watching dull rain erode the snow from chilled off-white to curb-frozen ash,

drinking old Ardmore and lamenting an ironic philosophy,

Evan's law - as disposable income rises, so do all the bills.


"Poetry Challenge 2: 10 Words - Time, Place, Emotion"

I was thirty-nine in Washington with a Turkish girl:

I chased my feelings for two years until I found

her in bed with someone else. So, to hell with her:

I'd rather get drunk and watch the snow melt.

Our lives
are like cardboard
boxes,

there's only so much
they can retain.

If the pressure's
too great

it will break,
shattering what's
inside.

I loved you
like childhood,

but I guess
we all have to grow up
sometimes.

I wish I lacked empathy.
I don’t want to feel.
I don’t want to see signs.
I don’t want to be real.

One minute, I’m fine—
then my soul explodes in my chest.
I wish I didn’t see that.
But I did. And now, no rest.

I wish I could shrug,
say “that’s not my concern,”
but every flicker of pain
Causes my stomach to hurt.

I notice the silence,
the shift in your tone—
there's nothing in your voice
It's all I think about alone.

This is why I'm standoffish and stick to just me
There's no ache in loneliness
At least not the kind that stings

Maybe I'll make friends but that feels like betrayal
These self imposed rules- a safe fortress failure

I wish I didn’t feel
At least not to this extent
My day was going so good
But I ruined it again

You'd think I'd learned my lesson,

So many years ago,

To never add anything new,

I've never let anything go.

Why must I be within your heart
This hurts as I wanted to leave,
When with eternity you grow,
And every fare declines way.

This could mean I shall stay,
But for whom,
Just for you.